Our Woodbury RTC remembers Robert Smalls, as an amazing man and dedicated Patriot, during Black History Month.
He was born a slave in South Carolina. During the Civil War, he helped commandeer a ship named The CSS Planter, and he piloted it to a Union controlled area, gaining his freedom and the freedom of his family and others.
This act of bravery encouraged Abraham Lincoln to enlist Black troops in The Civil War.
He becomes a State Representative in South Carolina, and became a leader in civil rights. He penned legislation for the first free and compulsory public school system in The United States, and He founded The Republican Party in South Carolina.
